Veteran Middle Georgia cop tapped by President Biden to become area’s next U.S. Marshal
Perry Police Chief Steve Lynn, a four-plus-decade veteran of local law enforcement, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the region’s U.S. Marshal.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Lynn will replace John Cary Bittick, a former longtime midstate sheriff who was a Donald Trump appointee.
The U.S. Marshal serves a largely administrative role, one that oversees security at federal courthouses and is responsible for the ferrying of prisoners to and from court as well as catching fugitives.
Lynn, 66, began his career as a military police officer during the Carter administration. He joined the Warner Robins Police Department in 1981 and rose through the ranks before leaving in 2007 to become an investigator for the Houston County DA’s office. He has been Perry’s top cop since 2013.
“He’s a really good guy,” Bittick said of Lynn on Friday. “I think he’ll do a good job.”
Bittick, who is 68 and in his 50th year in law enforcement, was the Monroe County sheriff for 35 years before he stepped down four years ago to become U.S. Marshal.
Lynn described his nomination this week by the president as “a great honor.”
“There’s a long history of outstanding marshals in the district,” Lynn said of the jurisdiction, which stretches southwesterly across Georgia from the South Carolina border and on down through Athens, Macon, Columbus, Albany and Valdosta to the Alabama and Florida state lines.